Toy building blocks



July 5, 1955 H. R. LATIMER TOY BUILDING BLOCKS Filed Oct. 6, 1952 AGENTS United States Patent 2,712,199 TOY BUILDING nLocxs Henry RaLatinier, La Mesa, cant. Application October 6, 1952, Seriil N 313,306

' '2 Claims.. (CI. 46-25) "The p'resentinvention relates generally to to'y'bu'ildin'g 'blocksand more particularly to toy building blocks hereinafter referred to as beam blocks, having interlocking slotted portions providing vertically opposed sockets, pillar blocks terminally insertabl'e in said sockets and coac'ting panelblocks of'novel character.

The primary object of this invention is to provide toy building blocks 'havingslots by which thblocks may be interlocked to form a rigid structure.

Ano'ther object ofthisinventionis to provide toy 'building blocks of the type described wherein sockets are formed at each interlocking joint.

Another object of this invention is to building blocks which may be assembled into a large number of structures utilizing-plain blocks which are fitted into the sockets formed -by the interlock-ing slotted blocks.

Another object of this invention is to provide toy building blocks of beam type for use with pillar blocks and panel blocks adapted to form flat surfaces in conjunction with the plain and slotted blocks. 7

Another object of this invention, ancillary to the preceding objects, is to teach the best known mode of implementing the principles of the invention in carrying the invention into actual practice.

Another object of this invention is to provide toy building blocks which are adapted for fabrication from many different materials, so that the choice of material can be according to the dictates of availability and price considerations, the exact sizes and proportions being matters easily determined to suit particular conditions and needs.

Another object of this invention is to provide toy building blocks which are inexpensive and practicable to manufacture.

Finally, it is an object to provide toy building blocks of the aforementioned character which are simple, safe and convenient to use and which will give generally efiicient and durable service.

With these and other objects definitely in view, this invention consists in the novel construction, combination and arrangement of elements and portions, as will be hereinafter fully described in the specification, particularly pointed out in the claims, and illustrated in the drawing which forms a material part of this disclosure and wherein similar characters of reference indicate similar or identical elements and portions throughout the specification and throughout the views of the drawing, and in which:

Fig. l is a side elevation view of a multiple block unit.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation view of a single block unit.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation view of a half block unit.

Fig. 4 is an isometric view of a panel block.

Fig. 5 is an isometric exploded view of an interlocking joint.

Fig. 6 is an isometric view of an interlocked ing the upper one of the sockets so formed.

Fig. 7 is an isometric view of an assembled structure using the toy building blocks described herein.

joint showprovide toy I I 2,712,199 "Patented July 5, 1955 ice Referring now to the drawing in detail, the toy building blocks of the slotted type are "substantially square in cross section and are dimensionally similar exceptin their overall length, a single 'beam block 10 being illustrated in Fig. 2. The single block 10 comprises a body 12, webs 14 and "ends '16, the webs being disposed between the opposed slots 1'8 and. 'The depth of the slot '18 is one fourth of the total depth of the block 10, the width of said slot being equal to "the width of said block. The thickness of the web '14 is one fourth of the total depth of the block '10, the slot 20 occupying the remaining on'e-halfof the depth of said block. In otherwords, the depth of the slot 20 is equal to the'de'pth of the slot 18 plus the thickness of the 'web14 for reasons which will be later explained. The length of the ends 16 is not critical and for practical purposes may be approximately equal to half the'widt'h of the block. The building blocks may also be manufactured in multiple lengths as illustrated by the double block 22 comprising two portions similar to the single block 10 which are joined by a center portion 24, said center portion being equal in length to the width of the block, the overall length of the double block 22 beingt-wice that of the single block 10 tofacilitate the use of both blocks in assembly of composite structures. A further blockis illustrated in Fig. 3, this 'beinga half block 26 in which the length of the body 28 has been reduced so that the overall length "of thehalf block is one' half that 'of the single block1'0.

- The slotted blocks areassembled as illustratedin Fig. 5 by interlocking the slots 20, the blocks being pressed together until the webs 14 are in intimate contact. The webs 14 together will occupy one-half of the total depth of the blocks, each web being one-fourth of said depth, this will leave a slot both above and below the webs of one-fourth of the total depth, said slots being enclosed on four sides by the body and .end portions of the blocks thus forming a substantially square socket 29 as illustrated in Fig. 6. Since-slots 20 are of similar size, any block may be interlocked with any other block, and all slots 18 being of similar size, the sockets 29 thus formed will be of similar size. When the pillar blocks are used, the sockets 29 will ordinarily be vertically oppositely disposed, as illustrated in the drawing.

In assembling certain structures it will be, desirable to construct flat surfaces, these are provided by panel blocks such as the panel block 30 illustrated in Fig. 4, comprising a slab portion 32 having at each end a chamfered portion 34 forming a lip 36. The width of the slab portion 32 is equal to the length of the body 12, and the length of said slab portion is also equal to the length of the body 12. Panel blocks thus proportioned will fit the space formed by four single blocks 10 interlocked to form a square, the slab portion 32 falling between the body portions of said single blocks and being supported by the lips 36 which overlap and rest on the body 12 of two of the single blocks as illustrated at 37 in Fig. 7. The panel blocks may also be fabricated in other lengths such as the panel block 38 in Fig. 7 in which the width of the slab portion 40 is similar to the width of the slab portion 32, the chamfered portion 34 and the lips 36 remain as described previously but the length of said slab portion is equal to that of two bodies 12, plus the width of two slots 20, plus the length of the center portion 24 which comprise the major portions of the double block 22. This particular panel block 38 will occupy the rectangular space formed by the interlocking of two single blocks 10 and two double blocks 22 in a manner similar to that previously described as illustrated at 42 in Fig. 7. Yet another panel block which may be required in certain structures is the panel block 44 having a slab portion 46, similar in length and having similar chamfered portions 34 and lips 36 as the panel block 38, however, the width of said slab portion is equal to the width of two slots 20 plus the length of the center portion 24. The particu- .lar use for this'panel block 44 is shown at 48 in Fig. 7 in which said panel block is used to occupy the space not filled by the two panel blocks 38. I

The horizontal frames of the structure illustrated in Fig. 7 are constructed from combinations of single blocks 10 and double blocks 22 while the vertical supports are pillar blocks 50, these being plain blocks of suitable length, their cross section being such that the ends of said pillar blocks will fitfirmly into the sockets 29 as illustrated by dotted lines 52 in Fig. 6.

The thickness of the webs 14 can be increased or decreased as desired but these webs should always be disposed entirely on one side of a medial plane of the block. Changes in the thickness of the webs result in changes in the depth of the sockets 29 but the blocks remain fully interchangeable.

Since the blocks 10 are ordinarily horizontally disposed they may be properly thought of as representing beams and may conveniently be termed beam blocks.

It will be obvious that by utilizing the various blocks and the methods of assembly disclosed herein the user may create many forms of construction such as model homes, bridges and the like the results being limited only by the ingenuity of the user.

The operation of this invention will be clearly comprehended from a consideration of the foregoing description of the mechanicaldetails thereof, taken in connection with the drawing and the above recited objects.

It will be obvious that all said objects are amply achieved by this invention.

Further description would appear to be unnecessary.

It is understood that minor variation from the form of the invention disclosed herein may be made without departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, and that the specification and drawing are to be considered as merely illustrative rather than limiting.

I claim:

l. A toy structure comprising vertically elongated pillar blocks of generally square. cross sectional shape, and interfitting and perpendicularly intersecting elongated horizontal beam blocks of the-same width as the pillar blocks having vertically oppositely disposed pairs of transverse slots adjacent to each end thereof, the width of each slot being that of a pillar'bloclcone slot of each pair having a depth of less than half the thickness of the block at the corresponding end constituting a shallow slot, the opposed slot of each pair having a depth equal to one-half the thickness of the block constituting a deep slot, said blocks being connected together with the deep slots of each member facing opposite the deep slots of each intersecting member, said shallow slots and a part of the walls of the deep slots of each intersecting member constituting sockets for. receiving said pillar blocks.

2. The structure recited inclaim 1 wherein shallow slots are formed intermediate the ends of said. beam blocks, and intermediate slots constituting deep slots are formed on the opposite side of said beam block from each shallow slot.

References Cited in the file of this patent 

